Claudia and the Painting
by mcpon14
Summary: This story takes place after Stacey's move in regular series # 14 and before Mimi's death. Alternate universe. Oneshot.


My homework is done and my chores were done, I thought as I sat on the director's chair in front of my easel working on my painting of Stacey McGill. I had just raced up here around five minutes ago after clearing the table, wiping up the counters and loading the dishwasher. I felt fantastic as I felt that I was finally back in my natural habitat doing what I naturally - what I was put on this earth - to do: paint pictures of my Anastasia who had been taken away from me by New York City and the whims of Mr. McGill's bosses. Each stroke of the brush was with much love and feeling.

And just when things couldn't get any better, a spotlight blinked-on on the canvass, encircling the beautiful Anastasia in a very deserving glow. She deserved all of her beautiful facial features to be highlighted like they were now. I basked in admiration at how beautiful Stacey was, not just pertaining to her looks but to her as a person.

Then it dawned on me - where was this light coming from? I followed the beam out of the window. It was coming from a flashlight emitting through from Mary Anne's window. When I went over to my window and spotted the culprit, she quickly turned it off. But not before I saw who it was. It wasn't Mary Anne; it was a person that looked exactly like . . . me! She was wearing the same outfit as me! She smiled before shutting off the light and her face imprinted itself in my mind.

Then another beam of light flicked on. It was from the Perkins' window and shining at Mary Anne's window. I JUST had to find out what was going on. So I crept downstairs and out of my front door and stood on my front yard. I looked up at the Perkins' window and yet another duplicate of me was the holder of that flashlight, also.

The next day, after school, I passed by a lemonade stand. I normally would not have bought anything since I'm tight on money. My art supply and clothing expenses use it all up which sometimes makes feel a twinge of guilt about not being more like Kristy who, as far as I think, hoards it all up and probably counts it at night just to make sure she's not under-hoarding money. Anyways, but this time the proprietor of the stand was none other than Janine!

"Wha, what are you doing?" I gasped. "What are you doing this for? A scientific experiment? Or for some other type of school project?" I asked her.

"No. I decided to do something different for a change. Something that I thought would make me feel refreshed. I tried getting a back rub from Jer-, I mean a friend, but that didn't do the trick." Janine said while smoothing down her wool skirt. She was wearing her usual white blouse besides the skirt so I guess she didn't go all-out on the "change" that she spoke of.

"How much for a cup?" I asked while extending a dollar bill to her. I was giving her money more for this stab at being a little bit more normal than for any actual thirst I felt.

After she took the money, I lifted up the tablecloth and bent down to see if she was still wearing her knee-high socks and loafers. To my surprise, there was a girl that looked EXACTLY like Janine underneath the table. She was wearing the same white blouse, wool skirt, black-rimmed glasses, knee-high socks, black loafers and had the same hair cut as her. She was laying on the ground in a fetal position, using her hands as a pillow and sleeping. There were several milk jugs there too, each filled with some kind of dark yellow liquid. There were wet stains on the ground near her skirt.

I bolted upright aiming a piercing, accusatory stare at Janine but the lock I had on her with my eyes broke as my gaze darted towards the three jugs that were on the table. They looked like the same type of jugs as found below. One of them was filled with a yellow liquid that was much lighter than the yellow of the liquid found below. The other two looked to be filled with water.

Suddenly, I thought that confronting her head on was not such a good idea, so I just shook my head at her and stormed away towards my house.

After I had closed my front door, I stood behind it with my mouth gaped open, not because of what I saw underneath Janine's lemonade stand but because I could of swore that I had passed yet another Janine clone on my way home. The person briskly dashed past my peripheral vision but I was in too much of a hurry in my mission to tell mom and dad as soon as possible about what I had thought Janine had done. I hadn't thought about the details of the situation; I just knew that what I saw was a crime scene of some kind and it needed to be reported. My mind zoned in on that and blocked out any other considerations of the situation. As I stood there a little out of breath from having walked so fast, I remembered that neither mom nor dad were usually home at this time.

Then I spotted Mimi sitting on the couch. She looked so serene with her hands cupped together on her lap. Her eyes seemed to twinkle as she smiled at me.

"How was your day, my Claudia?" she asked in a soothing tone.

"Well, I, my day went pretty well. I -

It dawned on me then that Mimi often greets me first when I come home from school. I've often asked about her day in return but rarely have I been the one that initiates the exchange.

"Um, Mimi, how was your day?" I said smiling.

I sat down next to her. She put her hand on my knee and I put mine over it. I looked into her grandmotherly eyes, and felt a sharing of kinship and love with her that I can only describe accurately with art.

She smiled before she spoke. "Well, my Claudia, I was tidying up the living room yesterday while you were cleaning the kitchen after dinner and happened upon one of your dad's magazines. I flipped through it and read this very interesting theory that scientists had come up with: the universe is a hologram. As we move, the hologram moves along with it in step. The article was about some evidence they found to support it."

"That's neat, Mimi." I said nodding.

"But that's not what intriqued me." Mimi said wistfully. "I think there's more to it than that."

"What is it that you think they're missing?"

"That article got me thinking. I think that not only is the world a hologram. But . . . but that you could fill in the pictures and populate it with what you want. And what I have as confirmation is that what I want, I have. Right here. I'm surrounded by my family. My loved ones."

"And we love you too, Mimi!" I said almost bursting into tears.

"There's more," she hinted.

"Oh?" I nudged.

"Well. If your mind is strong enough, if your will is strong enough . . . you can manipulate it further . . . " she said mysteriously.

"That's a cool thought," I said unsure.

"Well, I'm spent. I think I'm due for a nap." Mimi said as she got up and went towards her room. Before she swept her eyes out of my view, I could tell that they were glistening.

I scampered up to my room. When I went inside, I perfunctorily slung my backpack off of my shoulder and onto the floor next to my bed. I looked at it for a brief moment as it sagged leaning against a bedpost trying to remember if there was anything I had forgotten at school that wasn't in there. Then I felt a little miffed for a second as I saw Stacey's face on my bed. I thought that someone had haphazardly placed my painting there. Maybe my mom. A brief annoyance passed through me as I envisioned the possibilities for why she would be rifling through my things but then I spied the Stacey-face in full view, in full regalia. She was an entire person! She was wearing some very chic clothing. Very cosmopolitan. Then the face smiled at me. Her eyes sparkled.

"Stacey!" I said jumping to hug her. "When did you get here?"

But then I balked. For a fleeting moment, I thought that I might be looking at a mirage. Maybe I've been eating spoiled junk food. I never thought about the expiration dates on those things.

But then she talked!

"Claudia! I've missed you so much!" she said in her unmistakable voice.

"It really is you! I've missed you too!" I exclaimed.

We hugged. And that was when I knew that she was real. I inhaled the full splendor of her perfume as we embraced.

"When did you get here?" I asked strangely but with my excitement only dampening a little and hopefully not noticeably.

"I got here around ten minutes ago. It was strange."

I plopped onto my bed and she followed suit. "Tell me about it," I said brightly.

"Well, I was thinking about calling you later today. And as I did, Mimi's face appeared to me in my mind. She told me to close my eyes and picture myself with you. And I did. She warned me to not make it too fancy and so I imagined myself sitting in your room and just doing the usual chitchat. Such a small thing but gosh how I missed those."

She sighed after that spiel. Then she perked up.

"Then when I opened my eyes, I was suddenly here. In your room!" Stacey said amazed. "I immediately thought of calling home. I was a little scared because I didn't know what had just happened but then Mimi's face appeared to me, not visually, but I felt the presence of it. And she gave me a reassuring smile."

She jumped up. "Oh, I don't care! I'll only stay here for a little while. It won't be that big of a deal."

We both shrieked. Then hugged again. We probably smeared make-up on each other's faces.

"We-ell . . . I've got a surprise for you." I said feeling delighted. "But you probably already saw it."

I directed her over to the painting.

"Oh, it's gorgeous, Claud," she beamed.

"It's not finished," I said. "But . . . maybe you could help me with it?"

"Oh, I'd love to pose for you!"

Then I heard a bump at the door. I looked at the gap between the floor and the bottom of the door and saw a pair of sandals with feet in them at a slanted angle.

Those are Mimi's!

"Hold on a sec, Stace," I said then turned to the door. "Mimi? Would you like to come in?"

"No, my Claudia. I'm fine exactly where I am. But I really need to get supper going." Mimi said from behind there.

Then I heard her footfalls trail off, the pitter-patter of her going downstairs.


End file.
